No Breaks

I borrowed the 'Prison Break' Complete Series boxed dvd set from my mate AM about a month ago.

Didn't get round to start watching it until the other week and now I can't go a day without watching at least one episode. One evening, I did six episodes back to back - eyes were a bit dry after, maybe I didn't blink!

Great storyline and characters, funny seeing their dated clamshell-style mobile phones when in today's world, it'd all be iPhones and Blackberries.

Love the Michael and Sarah relationship.

My dilemma is - which brother do I fancy most? :-)

Still a lot going on at the mo, easier to talk about a bit of trivia or I'll go into rant mode...

Oasis and Salvation

Oasis, supported by the likes of The Enemy and Kasabian played three gigs over a very wet weekend at Heaton Park in Manchester. Boom went to the Saturday gig and confirmed that it was extremely muddy!

I live just over a mile away from the park and could clearly hear the vocals and music (and the crowds cheering and singing along) - the Gallagher brothers sounded good and sang all their classics. Apparently, on the first night, there was a power failure and the band offered a full refund to the people there who had kept their ticket stubs - nice gesture.

Can’t believe how the weather has changed - one minute 25 degrees C, lovely and sunny; next minute, 9 degrees C, raining and cold! Would be nice if we could experience some more global warming in Manchester!!

Anyway, the other night, went to see Terminator Salvation. Had seen this film advertised a few times and you know how sometimes all the best bits are included in movie trailers, so the film itself ends up a tad disappointing?

This certainly wasn’t the case, in fact, I don’t think the trailers did it much justice. I wasn’t really excited about watching this film but I enjoyed it very much and think it’s a great addition to the Terminator franchise (T3 is a bit iffy though). Christian Bale, fast becoming one of my favourite actors (rather easy on the eye too!) was excellent although in parts of the film, he was nearly overshadowed by Sam Worthington. Boom spoiled it for me by whispering about a certain ‘cameo’ performance before it happened but I shan’t say anything here!

Luxury Flicks

Been waiting in anticipation to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine and got to see it the other day....in style!

Boom booked some Gold Class seats, which are more expensive than 'normal’ tickets, but you pay for a different kind of cinema experience.

You get to sit in button-controlled reclining leather seats , very comfortable and they can be adjusted to an almost lying down position! Waiter/waitress service is available from your chair whilst watching the film at the press of a button.

Since everyone has paid premium price for this, you don't get people in there who aren't interested in the film, so no mobile phones going off, no kids.

The film itself I really enjoyed, as I'm a big fan of the X-Men comics and movies, plus Hugh Jackman is one of the few eye-candy actors around and he's looking very buff and mean here!

Not a lot of plot really Wolverine/Logan's history and background but some interesting characters and great special effects, some deviation from the comics around some of the characters and their abilities, including Sabretooth and Deadpool. A satisfactory ending too so I was happy.

Lots of films coming up in the next month or so but not all will be gold class!

YFS

Young, Free and Single?

Well I'm none of the above right now...

No details, except that he's tall and a toy boy... keeping it all under wraps, need to see how things go, but I do ask myself...how am I finding the time to do anything with all these distractions???

2009 - will things be fine...?

2007 was rather turbulent for me; I looked forward to 2008, yet was also pretty apprehensive about starting a new year as a singleton. I needn't have worried really.

Things started off well - I'd set myself new goals, achieved some of the short-term ones and felt good about myself. But as the economy nose-dived and the credit crunch took hold, things went a bit pear-shaped at work (as they have done for many other people.) I didn't get the pay rise I asked for and the axe swung over my head, only for me to get a reprieve. Good or bad? I dunno yet.

Still, I had a fabulous holiday with my best friend, had the odd pleasant distraction and the year ended a little better than I thought it would.

So, how do I face 2009? I know for a fact that it will be a bad year on the whole (financially, workwise and also, personally...), therefore I face it without fear of the unknown - I shall make the most of the good things in my life and grasp at the few opportunities that swing by. Things will be bad but they can only get better.

Thought about new year resolutions, was going to set myself some really challenging ones but the year will be challenging enough methinks, so these are the ones I've decided on (some are the same ones as last year):

Short Term:
- No buying alcohol for personal consumption at home until April (I'm sure the 2.5 litres of gin, plus other bottles of stuff will keep me going until then...)

Long Term:
- Budget - in a major way, watch my spending

- No buying books aside from two books from a charity shop for holiday purposes - use library and read the books gathering dust on the shelves at home

- De-clutter at least once a month - get rid of stuff on ebay/charity shops

- Be more organised with paperwork at home

- Don't get distracted at work; by this I mean the internet

Again, I've set a couple of personal goals which I shan't divulge here - they won't be easy to achieve but hey, life is a challenge or it'd be boring, right?

Anyway, amidst the doom and gloom, all the best to all for 2009 - we shall survive as there is light at the end of the long dark tunnel.

All I Want For Christmas Is...

Well I dunno about anyone else but I had a most pleasant Christmas - stress-free, relaxing, lots of drink, too much food (maybe the other way round...).

I was given my own Christmas stocking (a blingy snow white one!) as the glamorous C's son still 'believes'. It was filled with goodies - I must have been a good girl!

So Christmas morning, after a heavy night of champagne and wine, we were woken up early to shouts of "IT'S CHRISSSSSTMAS!" to open presents. Although not technically a gift as it was an unwanted upgrade of the glamorous C, I still see my new Nokia mobile phone as such - it's so dinky and cool!

Long distance calls to speak to members of my family - it was good to hear what they did, albeit without me and when I heard my little niece on the phone say my name, I tried not to get too emotional. Shame I didn't catch my Gran though.

The glamorous C cooked a lovely Christmas dinner - I did my share of peeling vegetables, and slicing/serving the meat, and also kept the kids amused so she was able to cook with little distraction. We ate non-stop, drank gin and a load of Baileys and watched Top Of The Pops. The kids' dad came to pick them up so me and the glamorous C carried on into the night, catching a whole manner of festive tv, it was really relaxing.

We didn't get many chances to chat but the glamorous C is in a happy place right now - she mentioned that her new bloke had asked her to move in with him, that her next wedding would be a very small affair...wow! Maybe it's just me but things are like going way too fast for my mind to comprehend (they met on 1st Nov...) but if she's happy and comfortable with it, it's no business of mine to say anything, I mean what do I know?

Boxing Day, we stayed in our pyjamas until late afternoon, watched St Trinians on DVD (the recent adaptation), nursed a sore head.

Later, the glamorous C was off to see her sugar daddy and me...? Well, I went out too and after watching Pride & Glory, had a fab and fun (but very late) night.

The next couple of days are a blur of sleeping, eating (turkey sandwiches or cheese and crackers) and watching episode after excellent episode of Lost: Season 3.

Sportwise, the festive period hasn't been a good one for Ebbsfleet United, but has been excellent for Liverpool, who after beating Bolton 3-0 on Boxing Day, went on to thrash Newcastle 5-1, netting me a nice crisp tenner (my usual wager with the Geordie at work) and keeping the Reds on top of the league into the new year and on track to win their first ever Premier League title....

Today, I thought I'd brave the sales. Decided against going to the Trafford Centre so I went into a very chilly Manchester. When I saw the hoardes there, I developed a headache but after a coupla hours, I came away with a few bits and pieces, including some incredibly high heels (why? Because they were on sale...) and being organised for once, picked up Christmas cards for next year too!

Back to work tomorrow before another long weekend - I need to motivate myself for aerobics too, start as I mean to go on, etc.

So did Santa bring me what I wanted? Perhaps - only hope that it's not just for Christmas! ;-)

Clowning About

What is it about clowns that’s so creepy? And some dolls for that matter?

Clowns are supposed to make you laugh and dolls are for children but there’s something about certain clowns and dolls that I find really sinister. And a bit scary.

Watched Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers last night on DVD and there’s a scene where a policewoman is showing some kids a room full of dolls and clowns. The kids are loving being shown around, all bar one kid, who freaks out when he appears to see a clown toy moving and baring teeth. Indeed later on in the film, the dolls and clowns ‘come to life’ and attack the policewoman.

The film's not new, made in the early 90s so some shaky special effects but I was still rather perturbed by those scenes of animated dolls. What a big scaredy cat, eh? I'm not good with horror movies - hack, slash and violence I'm ok on but my imagination is too good and I seem to find horror when it's hinted at or fairly innocuous (eg dolls). *shivers*

A late but fun evening.

Born of Frustration

So on Friday, I went to see the James gig at the Manchester Central (formerly known as the GMEX).

Tim Booth's vocals were excellent (what happened to all his hair?)and there was no tiredness when the usual favourites were sung, ie Sit Down, Laid, Say Something, Sometimes. There were some new tracks too which sounded promising.

The venue? Well, being a converted railway station, the acoustics did sound a little different - guess I'm used to places like the MEN Arena.

Plus someone my size would not generally choose an all standing gig (I may have spotted the stage a couple of times!) but there was an atmosphere that reminded me of my student days which I was quite comfortable with - the floor slick with spilt beer and crushed plastic pint pots!

Watched a bit of Gangs of New York on tv afterwards, an enjoyable but late evening.

Saturday - nearly didn't wake up in time for my train to York. Yes, another outing to watch Ebbsfleet United in action at the Kit Kat Crescent. Only two of the Manchester lads went - the others seem to have lost interest which is a shame but we met up with some of the others who travel to watch the club so it was still a good outing.

Shame about the football though - after dominating the first half and securing a 1-0 lead, the Fleet totally lost the plot and the game - it was shocking.

In the bar afterwards, the Fleet's 'coach' Liam Daish was there and some of the fans had a chat with him - he's big and a bit scary so I can't see many harsh words being said to him but I think tactically, he could have done a better job.

A playoff position now is a pretty unrealistic (we're in 12th place, 11 points off the zone) but one can still dream!

And all that Jazz...

So, it was our departmental Christmas bash, again at Tatton Park - the theme this year was Mississippi Mardi Gras.

As the whole department has been pretty much decimated due to redundancies, there were only a dozen of us this time, of which three people were ex-employees. There were no senior managers in attendance so we had to get our own wine for the table - bummer! One girl turned up quite unexpectedly - she's been off 'sick' for the last three months - funny how she miraculously recovered that night of all nights...hmmm.

Anyway, I'm not into jazz at all so some of the live music was a bit meh but the costumes and settings all looked good and the DJ played some good tunes later on.

It was an enjoyable night - good food, good wine, good company and I was in mega-heels but managed to stay in them all night AND dance in them - ace!

There was no gossip this year - one of the antagonists from last year didn't go - his wife put her foot down, ahem...

JH swears she wasn't drunk but how else do you explain the fact that the only part of her mobile phone that she had in her bag by the end of the night was the battery...yep, casing and sim card were...elsewhere!

The party continued for a bit longer back at the hotel until 3am - I'd had enough alcohol by then, had to stop before things got messy...

Was like a total zombie when I woke up later that morning feeling like I hadn't slept at all. Tried to soak up the hangover with a greasy breakfast - it didn't really work. Drove home slowly, knowing I was still over the limit.

But that's not all. Not only did I have virtually no voice, look and feel pretty dreadful...but I had a date!

Yeah, one of them! No, I don't often talk about these social outings of mine in any detail (if at all) but I wanted to mention that in my current state of dizziness, I got my weekends mixed up...what a dope!

Did I blow it? Hmm..not sure yet but it was a pleasant outing and passed surprisingly quickly.

I so need an early night.

Another party on Friday - can my body survive another attack??

Making A Killing

Ok, so some people may be thinking that I'm trying to resurrect my flagging musical street cred in light of my last post but I've managed to get hold of a couple of tickets to see The Killers on tour next year (at the MEN Arena).

But the real reason is that I had wanted to see them at the Leeds Festival this summer and I would have done, except that I got scammed.

Anyway, it's been a weird day - mixture of bad and good. Poor JH was reduced to tears this morning after getting some unwarranted grief on the phone by the boss' boss - she's off on hols next week after racking up lots of hours these past few weeks; doubt he'll appreciate any of it though.

Been pleasantly distracted by texts - it's hard working in an open office, when even a vibrating phone can be heard by somebody on the other side of the floor, never mind my Ting Tings ringtone... ahem!

The glamorous C was in the office today - it was difficult keeping our laughing and giggling low key in the canteen!

Don't have any inclination to work right now, couple more hours til home time and I'm outta here!

Sharp Blunt

I think I've mentioned before that my musical tastes are pretty eclectic. So the concerts/gigs I've been to this year thus far have been Spice Girls (yeah I know!), Linkin Park and Clubland Live. Last night, James Blunt was added to the list.

Before you shake your head in despair, let me tell you that he was excellent, plus I was totally proved wrong in thinking that all blokes hated him, as there were loads of guys there - I was shocked!

Anyway, I was there with the ubiquitous glamorous C - she'd had a date earlier in the day so there was a lot for us to catch up on.

So James' concert was not the kind that we normally go to, which would generally include in the audience screaming girls, glowsticks, fancy dress, whistles and klaxons. So different in fact that whilst the support act was on (dunno who the guy was) and us being in full laughing and giggling mode, we were told off for talking too loudly by some bearded guy sitting in the row in front of us!

Funny though how during the main event, the guy didn't say 'boo' to the drunken couple sitting directly behind him and his older bird, who talked and slurred throughout the whole concert whilst swigging their beer...

Anyway, Captain Blunt - nothing to really look at, bit on the scrawny side but he comes across as a very nice chap, great voice which has a lot of emotion and there's something I really like about his songs. Rumoured to be big in the trouser department, not that that has got anything to do with his music!

Have to say that I knew that 'Goodbye My Lover' would reduce me to tears and the glamorous C joined me in crying like a big girl by the end of it! All in all, a most enjoyable concert.

Back home, got distracted online, read a bit more of my overdue library book, bed late - looking forward to a bit of a lie in at the weekend!

Strictly Good Fun

So on Saturday, me and the glamorous C went out for her belated birthday outing. For once, Manchester was sunny, so we made sure we wore our shades - all the better to go people-watching without anyone noticing!

Firstly, a yummy Thai lunch at Chaophraya - have been here before and the food as always was excellent and not too heavy.

Downing a few G & T's, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of Manchester life, love watching city life go by in all its glory!

Conversation was easy and full of laughter as usual - the glamorous C's whirlwind romance appears to be going off the boil slightly - difficult to know what to say or suggest but she wasn't down, in fact was most upbeat about it all. Men - such strange creatures! We had a lot of fun discussing them! ;-)

So, we had the whole night ahead of us, we could have headed out to some trendy bars and clubs, to eye up the talent (yes, sometimes there is some!), mingled with the young, boogied to some good tunes.

No, we went back to mine, opened a couple of bottles of wine, munched on snacks and watched Strictly Come Dancing (featuring the eye-wateringly handsome Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, left) and X Factor. Ok ok, we were taking it easy - can't be party animals all the time!

Had a great giggle surfing the internet - you know, just checking out stuff...!

Crashed out around 1.30ish, voices hoarse from laughing!

Had a nice lazy start to Sunday, daytime tv under the duvet, fresh coffee (big Sis giving away her Boden coffee pot!), fuzzy heads.

When the glamorous C left, I dozed for a while, then noticing that there was still a rare bit of sunshine, donned my bikini and dozed a bit more outside! Ooh, am looking forward to my holiday when I can be doing this sunbathing lark properly in some real heat (fingers crossed!)

I have loads of stuff to be doing around the house and also stuff I have to read for work - just got no motivation whatsoever. Maybe I need to establish a to do list...

Or maybe not!

Impressionist, moi?

Feeling rough, yes it's self inflicted, serves me right.

So on Saturday morning, I made my way to Wales for my godson EB's 15th birthday. I've not seen him since I took him to the Linkin Park concert and he's grown a lot, his voice has broken and he's not as shy as he used to be. I gave him a music voucher plus some albums I'd downloaded for him (Avenged Sevenfold among them, who are surprisingly good). He kept the CDs hidden from his mum as most of them are parental advisory...hey, I know he thinks I'm a great godmother!

We went for a quick bite to eat and then went into Chester with the rest of the family - as is usually the case, the outing descended into a typical family dispute, shouting, child crying - ah, family life eh?

I didn't have any recent pics of EB so I asked his mum MR to bluetooth some to my phone - she sent me a few, including one of him recently holidaying, wearing just his swimming shorts. Erm... did I say that he's grown a lot....?

Anyway, after a few hours, I said my goodbyes and made my way to the glamorous C's - she too had noisy kids running around the house but also her ex sisters in-law - they still remain on good terms.

For the glamorous C's birthday card, I'd done a little doodle of us on holiday which she said she really liked. So the past couple of evenings, I've spent a few hours replicating the doodle with a bit of paint on a mini canvas - she loved the result (above) but I really enjoyed the painting - I felt inspired! :-)

Anyway, spent some time on Runescape with her son, then had a good girlie chinwag (seems men were the objects of some venom but hey, not from me!) and got merry on wine.

And then, sometime after the in-laws left, the doorbell went and the glamorous C's toyboy turned up...

First impressions? He was nice. Smaller and slimmer than I expected, not as shy as she'd made him out to be but he was easy to talk to (or was that the wine talking...?). Thought they looked sweet together and as he left at midnight, he asked me when I was next staying over at hers...ok ok, I get the hint that he wanted to be alone with her! ;-)

Anyway, we stayed up drinking (tequila at one point) and chatting, had a late salad meal at 1.30am and crashed out at 3am, with a bottle of beer next to the bed...

Yes, I deserve this hangover! Early night for me so off to bed soon...

In Luuuuuuurve!

No, not me! The glamorous C!

With her gorgeous looks, the glamorous C was only single because she wasn't really trying so it was no real surprise to me that after making a tiny little effort, she has found herself caught up in a whirlwind romance!

Ok, so I had a hand in it somewhere but no, I really cannot take any credit - it's all her doing!

Taking a leaf out of someone's book (ahem), she registered with an online dating site - you know, just to see what was out there, a bit of window shopping as it were..

Anyway, she got chatting to a lovely guy on there (one whom I had spotted and had thought was a match for her...) and several dates later...wow, she is on cloud nine! :-D

Her delirious joy is totally infectious and I cannot help feeling ecstatically happy for her (or stop grinning!) - in fact, I don't know why but I seem to be just as giddy as she is!

We had a fantastic evening last night after the classes, catching up, laughing loads, making comparisons - you know what us girls are like...! ;-)

She liked the birthday presents I got her - a 'love' cookbook, chocs and pamper vouchers - sounds like she got a nice 'present' from him too over the weekend, haha!

Anyway, hoping to celebrate this weekend with her and I think I get to meet the new beau too!

Ray of Sunshine

What with the crap that's going on at work and me being scammed over the Leeds Festival tickets, I'm glad to say it's not all doom and gloom in my life.

I have a mad (and expensive) few weeks coming up with big sister's wedding, my family coming over, the saga of work churning on relentlessly, plus another wedding reception and throw in a couple of birthday celebrations.

But I'm glad I have the glamorous C around me to keep me vaguely sane.

Anyway, we've finally booked our next holiday - we shall be off to Thailand - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Sun, sand, sea, snorkelling, dodgy go-go bars....brill!

We can't wait!

Edited post

SCAMMED! :-(

I can't believe I've been scammed!

Bought tickets for next week's Leeds Festival via xclusivetickets.com back in April. Website looked legit, was even linked to various festival websites.

Received an email from them a fortnight ago saying that tickets would be despatched shortly. So no need to worry.

However, a week to go and still nothing so I thought I'd try to contact them today.

The website has disappeared and when you Google the name, you see lots of posts from other 'victims' of these scammers!

When I phoned my credit card company, they were aware of the scam as they've been receiving calls from people who were supposed to be going to the V Festival this weekend but whose tickets haven't arrived from xclusivetickets....

I hope I will get a full or at least partial refund via my credit card company...but I'm gutted that I won't be going.

EDIT - and in another scamming atrocity, the Cheeky Scouser found out that his bank card has been cloned and a wodge of cash withdrawn from his account!

I did have good stuff to post about but now, I'm soooooo pissed off! :-(

Daft as a Bird

So I was dozing on and off on the sofa, sleeping off last night's excesses and watching some of the olympics, when it sounded like something was thrown hard at the patio window.

A little shocked, I jumped up to have a look, saw no one and was about to settle back on the sofa when my eye caught something on the ground.

What looked like some kind of falcon/bird of prey was lying there, just blinking at me. It was probably really stunned from the impact with the window but what was it doing here? There are normally only magpies, starlings, sparrows, pigeons and other common garden birds around here! Maybe it was trying to catch one of the above birds.

Anyway, it didn't move as I took a picture of it and I sat there watching it for a few minutes, in case one of the neighbour's cats decided to have a sniff around.

Its beak looked really sharp, I had no idea if it was hurt as it only moved its head but not its body, so I thought about putting some gloves on and picking it up and maybe contacting the RSPCA (RSPB?). However, when I stood up, it seemed to suddenly notice me, staggered to its feet and flew a short distance away. After a few seconds, it recovered and flew away into the distance.

Anyway, yesterday I spent a fab day with the glamorous C - she came round just in time to be introduced to the Cheeky Scouser (thumbs up from both!)

I then took her into Chinatown - have really missed my dim sum since my gran went away, so I ordered some old favourites and they all went down well!

We then went shopping for shoes and accessories for me for big Sister's wedding and I managed to get everything, including a nice new interview suit - I knew the glamorous C would keep me focussed when it came to shopping!

Went back to mine and we had a great evening of chat, laughs , gin and wine. Eeee, we need to get our holiday sorted soon!

Yay and Boo!

Ok, quick synopsis of the last week or so:

• Mad mad busy at work - finally got that nightmare deal off my desk after 5 months - Yay!



• Am still so behind on my work that I may have to do more overtime - Boo!



• Went down to London and am now officially Godmother to my little nephew - Yay!



• Painted a really cool money box pig for my little nephew (see pic before and after...)- Yay!



• Met up with the glamorous C after not seeing her for aaaaages - we had a lot to catch up on - Yay!



• Said glamorous C has got a contract at our company for another 12 months - Yay!



• We can now start looking for somewhere to go on holiday - Yay!



• Morale at work is terrible as a third of the workforce are on consultation - Boo!



• After the Center Parcs trip and the expensive train fare to London, I am so skint - Boo!



• Have arranged for my mate MA from uni to come and stay with me next weekend - Yay!



• She will be bringing her 3 little Glaswegian kids - Yay! (I think...)



• No pay rise for me because of the credit crunch - Boo!



• A possible job opportunity on the horizon though - Yay!



• Cheeky Scouser is making me smile - Yay!

More Yay's than Boo's - I must be happy! :-)

Spanish Double Whammy

Wow - what an epic men's Wimbledon men's tennis final, which was eventually won by the very-pleasing-to-the-eye and athletic Rafael Nadal, who overcame the 5 times consecutive reigning champ Roger Federer in a truly exciting five setter.



A double celebration for the Spanish who, as you know, were also the Euro 08 champions (yeah, I know I said don't bet against the Germans but hey, what do I know??Except that I had a sneaky bet at the start of the competition on Spain to win...la la la!)



Anyway, an interesting and different weekend - out on Friday night with the Cheeky Scouser (yes, a mention!) and went to see 'Hancock' which was good.

Then reluctantly on Saturday, I went into the office.

Yes, saddo me went into work as I have such a huge backlog of stuff to do but at least I was able to negotiate some overtime pay. I was quite productive and managed to clear quite a lot but may have to come in again for another blitz. Felt some weight off my shoulders for the first time in ages.

I'm glad I got the work out of the way early on Saturday as I was able to enjoy the rest of the weekend!

It's my nephew's christening next weekend (when I get my godmother status) and I'm painting a piggy money box for him - the painting is very therapeutic and relaxing - if it's turns out ok in the end, I may take a photo when I'm finished!

But what do I wear??! The usual bloomin' dilemma - I so need new stuff in my wardrobe!

Fubsy

Well, what an utterly fab weekend in Center Parcs! I'm still recovering and for once, it's not from a hangover!

Whinfell Forest in Penrith - what a beautiful place! Fresh air and glorious forest.

So the 8 of us girlies arrived for my big sister's hen weekend - she's done the L plates, blown up condoms and stripogram thing before so this one was to be more 'sedate', with us all older and wiser!

Great accommodation, we were in houses next door to each other. Hired bikes - bear in mind that I hadn't seriously ridden one in nearly 15 years and my feet could barely touch the ground, I was just kinda glad that I didn't have to do any sudden stops so there were no unfortunate incidents of me toppling over sideways! My aerobics classes have given me strong leg muscles so I was probably the only one who could cycle up the hills without stopping but yowch, was I saddle-sore or what!?

Ok, so I wanted to have a go at some things I'd never done before so I opted for climbing and archery.

The wall was a lot higher than I thought it would be, 10 metres (about 30 ft?) but impressing myself since I'm not too great with heights, I climbed to the top 3 times! It wasn't easy, my arms (and legs) were shaking and I only looked down twice.... Can't remember the last time I was this physically exhausted!

The archery was good - I wasn't too bad considering my arms were still rather wobbly after the climbing - hearing and seeing the arrows thud into the targets was very satisfying!

Lots of activities to choose from but they weren't cheap, although there was 'free' stuff you could do, eg cycling of course and swimming, well bathing in an indoor place that had a wave machine and some slides.

There was a good range of restaurants - first night we had an Italian - good food, poor service; second night a pub dinner - I amazed the girls with my useless general knowledge and we came 4th in the pub quiz out of 26 teams, (we didn't know what fubsy* meant...). On the last night, we had an excellent curry.

A couple of the nights, we just headed back to the house for some drinks and games - Pictionary - bloody hilarious (me and my partner won of course!) - at times, we were crying with laughter and I had a sore throat from all the laughing by the end of the night!

Managed to squeeze in a well-deserved Swedish massage, which really helped my sore muscles. Big sis didn't do any activities (unlike one girl who did 7 or 8 activities - must have cost a bomb!)but treated herself to a facial and spa session.

We didn't have great weather - got caught twice in showers but it didn't matter. Cycling around everywhere was pretty exhilarating, quite tempted to get a bike myself although nowhere I can go cycling back home...

Anyway, I would highly recommend the place - it did help that I got a discount on the accommodation from my gym membership but I would deffo come back again, with or without discount.

When I got back, rested a while, then went out for a couple of drinks and pizza at Dukes 92.

Who with, you may ask?

Ummm...I'll probably write about that another time! ;-)

* Fubsy means 'short' - how they all chortled that the 'short one' didn't get that one right in the quiz!